Just making it up as I go along…

redecoration

Psst, there’s an advantage to being a library manager during lockdown. I get to go in there when no one else is around and sit and read and look after the books.

The libraries, I am sure of it, get upset if left alone too long. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve had systems play up, or books slip from shelves when they’ve been alone for too long.

One of my libraries is due to be decorated this week, so I joined a couple of other managers to do some preparations ahead of the workmen arriving. Vulnerable books have been relocated, outdated paperwork shredded, and access points cleared so things can be quietly and efficiently completed with a minimum of annoyance to the library itself.

I could swear that the library is all aquiver about the attention its getting after weeks of quiet – its certainly been good to see colleagues again and to do something practical while maintaining our distances.

Like this:

Well, barring some small touches of paint when we look at it in the morning, we’ve finished painting the spare room. Tomorrow should mostly be spent reassembling and reconfiguring it all into something both more useable and less cluttered. In the meantime I’ve also tried rationalising some of the stacks of books in the bathroom so there’s less danger to life if anything falls over.

We were so caught up in sorting the room out that I managed to completely forget that I’d rescheduled my counselling for this evening, which led to a rapid phonecall to apologise and mention I was still covered in paint after I received a text mentioning my lonely coffee.

Still, it’s worth it for how transforming it has been to the room with colours other than plain white now. We’ve again used the Almost Oyster for the roof and used a Gentle Lavender for the walls, both in a silk finish which reflects the light smoothly.

Hopefully there won’t be too much last minute touches needed before we have the flat back in one piece.

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Life’s busy at the moment, proving that something will usually crop up to keep me from having idle hands for too long. Between overtime at the library, commissions, and competition entries, there’s been not too much time to carry on with reorganising the flat until this weekend.

That said, we’ve managed to get a lot done in the last 36 hours. We’ve finished the last paint touch-ups in the hall, sanded and repainted the homemade ottoman retrieved from Lady M’s family home, and rearranged the bedroom to give us more room, more shelves, and a view of bits of the carpet that haven’t seen daylight in about four years.

I’ll admit it’s not been without it’s fair share of groans, grumbles, aches and pains to forge on through. Some of it has been from the exertions of a long week (even with a delightfully diverting lunch with Lady G on Friday as a contrast), or from the succession of ills plaguing Lady M in her exhaustion at the moment. We’ve had moments of snappiness, fits of giggles, long-suffering silences, and contented sighs as things start to take shape.

Hopefully in the next day or so we’ll hear from the people from who we ordered new flooring for the hall and can finally count the first room completed. Then we’ll think about the next room on our hit list. It seems odd to be finally putting our stamp on the place, even though it’s just a lick of paint and moving a few things around. Between that and the ongoing decluttering we’re doing though, the flat is starting to feel brand new again.

I could probably make a pithy comment here about the effort taken to renew and refresh a flat and compare it to the ongoing work we put into being awesome together, but you already thought of that, didn’t you?